Second Chances: Season 1: Genesis
by shadowfire01
Summary: The Moon Kingdom is at war. Grand General Prince Jason works alongside Queen Serenity and her daughter, Princess Serenity to find a way to end the fighting and re-establish Endymion to the throne of Earth. Yet, it may already be too late.
1. Dramatis Personae

**Season 1 Dramatis Personae**

**Prince Jason – **The Prince of the Sun and the first of the four Moon Kingdom Grand Generals, answering only to Queen Serenity. Part of the Moon Kingdom Royal Court. Can control fire.

**Prince James** – The Prince of the Asteroid Belt, the second of the four Moon Kingdom Grand Generals and Prince Jason's younger brother. Part of the Moon Kingdom Royal Court. Can control asteroids.

**Princess Cassandra** – The Princess of the Sun, the third of the four Moon Kingdom Grand Generals and Prince Jason's twin sister. Part of the Moon Kingdom Royal Court. Can control ice.

**Tagmar Bendix **– The last of the four Moon Kingdom Grand Generals with no royal ties. Assumed the rank of Grand General through military service.

**Queen Serenity – **The Queen of the Moon Kingdom.

**Princess Serenity **– The Princess of the Moon Kingdom and Queen Serenity's daughter.

**The Royal Court **– The Royal Court of the Moon Kingdom, consists of the Princesses of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Princess Serenity, Princess Cassandra, Prince James and Prince Jason.

**Luna** – The first of two advisors to Queen Serenity; a cat

**Artemis** – The second of two advisors to Queen Serenity; also a cat.

**Prince Endymion** – The true prince of the Earth, whose throne was usurped when Metalia and Beryl remade Earth into the Dark Kingdom. He is a fervent ally with the Moon Kingdom in their war with the Dark Kingdom.

**Yuichiro** – A messenger, though there may be more to him than it seems.

**Queen Beryl **– The usurper to Prince Endymion and the leader of the Dark Kingdom

**Metalia – **The force behind Beryl. The true usurper to Endymion and the true leader of the Dark Kingdom

**The Dark Generals** – The highest ranking generals of the Dark Kingdom, consists of Jadeite, Kunzite, Zoicite and Malachite.

**Youma** – The monsters controlled by the Dark Kingdom.


	2. Where it Begins

The messenger strode down the long, narrow hall, paying no attention to anyone passing him. His only concern was the destination of his message. Finally, he reached a plain, wooden door and gave it a knock.

"Enter," a voice responded.

He opened the door and walked in, coming face to face with not only Prince Jason, the tall, raven-black, short haired, brown-eyed Prince of the Sun and Grand General of the Moon Kingdom, but also a man he recognized as High General Carth Betrex.

"Could you be troubled as to wait a moment?" asked the prince. "You may take a seat if you like," he said motioning to his chair.

"Thank you, Your Highness," replied the messenger, taking note of the prince's sudden discomfort. "But I would rather stand."

"Very well," he said turning back to Betrex. "You were saying?"

"The current status of the sectors in our quadrant" replied the general. "Sectors 1, 5, and 9 are gaining ground and sector 4 is losing ground. We are holding in sectors 2 and 6 and there is currently no activity in sectors 3, 7, and 8."

Jason wasted no time in giving a reply. "Have the lieutenant generals of sectors 3, 7, and 8 loan you some battalions. Add them to our forces in sector 4 and step up our defenses. Once we have stopped losing ground, immediately launch the Gervex Counterattack."

"But sir," objected Betrex. "We've only attempted the Gervex move once and were nearly defeated! The battle would have been lost if your brother had not shown up!"

"I won't deny that it was one of my worst mistakes," growled Jason, turning to gaze out his window. "But listen Carth, the sign of a good general… No, of a good person, is learning from past mistakes. I know what we did wrong," he said, swiftly turning back to face Betrex. "This time, I'm going to make sure we don't make those same mistakes again. Now, is there anything else you wish to bring before me?"

Carth sighed and handed Jason a slip of paper. "If you could sign this, I need your authorization for a court martial."

"Corporal Winx again?" asked the general as he took the paper. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be there for this one. I want to see how he keeps getting out of these."

Jason stepped toward his desk to grab a pen. "He could examine laws for the kingdom."

"By all means," replied Betrex, as Jason signed the document. "Maybe you could finally get him found guilty."

"One can only hope," said Jason as he handed the paper back to Betrex, who sealed it in his pocket and gave a salute, walking out as Jason returned the gesture.

Jason then turned to the patiently waiting standing messenger. "Now what do you have for me?"

"A summons from Queen Serenity, Your…" the messenger stopped just before the word "highness," remembering the discomfort Jason showed earlier. "…Sir."

Jason took the summons and read.

_General Prince Jason, a youma more powerful than all the others we have faced has surfaced. I request your presence in one hour to discuss what must be__done about this._

"Well," said Jason crumpling up the message and burning it in flames conjured from his hand. "I guess I know what I'm doing for the rest of the afternoon." He looked at the messenger square in the eyes. "Is there anything else you came for?"

"Nothing at all, sir," the messenger said, quickly bowing and exiting the room.

Closing the door, Jasons scratched his head for a second and decided to make a quick call. He walked over to his hologram communicator and spoke the recipient of the intended call: "Prince Endymion." After a moment, a hologram of Endymion appeared. As the image composed, Jason recalled the many comments on how similar they looked to each other, the only difference being Endymion's grey eyes. They had even once switched roles, at the suggestion of Jason's brother, to prank everyone. But that was during better times, when Endymion was on the throne. Before Beryl had usurped him and fooled the people of earth into a war with the Moon.

"Prince Jason," said Endymion with surprise. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You may dispense with the pleasantries, Endo," replied Jason very seriously. "Give me a straight and honest answer. Did you send one of your undercover men as a messenger?"

"Officially, no. Honestly, he's not one of my undercover men. He really is one of my normal messengers. The only ones that were to know were Queen Serenity and I. How do you know?

"His memory gave him away," replied Jason. "The servants and messengers here mostly forget my contempt for titles; they always have to apologize when calling me "majesty" or "highness" a second time. This one, however, stopped short, remembered and called me 'sir.' That, and I just didn't feel like he was from here, I don't quite know how to explain it."

"That innate sense again?" asked the second prince.

"Exactly. Now you're our ally," started Jason, bringing some edge into his tone. "Why would you need to send an undercover messenger to the palace?"

"Classified information," replied Endymion shortly.

"Endymion," said Jason with humor. "Remember, I am not just a member of the Royal Court, I'm a Grand General with top level security clearance. I know some things that the queen will only find out if the other three Grand Generals and I deem it necessary for her to know. If you don't tell me, I'll just look. I'm only asking out of respect"

"Right," said Endymion quickly. "We have reason to believe that there's a Dark Kingdom spy acting somewhere in your palace. They may be the reason why ten of my own men were killed, causing us to move our base location two weeks ago. My man is sniffing him out. There's a reason we didn't consult the four of you!" added Endymion hastily, seeing the fire in Jason's eyes. "Since we didn't know who the spy is or what he's done, it was safer if Serenity, my man and I just rendezvoused secretly on Ganymede. Don't worry though, you Grand Generals aren't suspects. We eliminated you before the spy even set foot on the moon. Serenity trusts you with her life."

"As she, her daughter and the rest of the court should. Now thanks for the information," said Jason politely. "But I have a meeting to attend."

"It was my pleasure," said Endymion with a smile, ending with a quick and snarky "majesty."

Jason switched off the hologram communicator and smiled. Endymion knew of Jason's title hatred for years, but still gave him a hard time about it. Though it was almost always sarcastic, Jason knew that no disrespect was meant, it was good natured ribbing and just a way to get back at calling him Endo, a childhood nickname that the man always hated. The friendly jabs had gone on for so long, neither prince remembered when and who started it.

But that wasn't important, he had meeting to attend. He quickly gave his stark white general's uniform a once over and left the room.

* * *

Prince James turned a corner and noticed a group of girls ahead, the Princesses of Uranus, Neptune, Mercury and Jupiter. Smiling, Jim was about to pull a prank on Jupiter and so far, all the details had fit perfectly together. Uranus, Neptune and Mercury were playing their parts to the hilt. Suddenly, as he was about to give the signal, a tiny meteorite whizzing by Jupiter's ear, a messenger appeared out of nowhere.

"Prince James!"

The four princesses ahead of him turned to see who called him out, and the three on the inside saw James wave it off.

"Yes, what is it?" inquired the blonde, scraggly haired, blue eyed prince to the messenger. "I'm a… very busy man."

"Yes… I can see you're… hard at work," replied the man with a tense of sarcasm. "Message from the Queen."

Jim read the note. _More powerful,_ he thought, _considering that there are some pretty powerful youma under Beryl leading the misguided forces of earth, this isn't good at all._

"Who was the target this time?" asked the messenger in a low voice.

"Jupiter," replied the prince in the same tone as he headed towards his chambers.

"You're either incredibly brave or downright crazy, sir," said the messenger, following him

"Both," replied the prince with a smile and a short chuckle. "It's not my looks that have earned me the nickname Blindside."

"It was indeed a pleasure fighting under you sir," waxed the other. "I miss those days, but it's still thanks to you that I got this messenger duty after being wounded."

"Speaking of which, how is the leg?" asked James stopping just outside the door to his room.

"Can't complain today, sir, thanks for asking."

"That's good. Now I have a meeting to get to, and as you can see, I'm not in my general's uniform."

"And I have a few more messages to deliver, until next time sir." The messenger saluted, the general returned the salute and they went their separate ways.

* * *

A tall woman with waist length, red hair in a flowing, purple dress and stone earrings, carrying a scepter strode up the stone steps that leading to a skull, like rock formation, with a giant cylinder of red-orange energy protruding from the mouth. "Metalia," the woman said, with creepy reverence. "You summoned me?"

"I did, Beryl," replied the energy in a grating, female voice. "Has our spy in the Moon Kingdom returned with any news of late?"

"Why, yes, yes they did," smiled Beryl menacingly. "There is going to be an effort by some of Grand General Bendix's men, lead by the Princess of Neptune to retake the Neptunian moons Thalassa and Proteus, though he doesn't know about their attack strategy."

"We know enough to prepare. Was there anything else?"

"One of your Great Seven have been found out. Currently, Serenity has a meeting going on with the four Grand Generals. Once that's over, he will report in and tell us everything we need to know."

"Excellent, quite excellent," confirmed Metalia. "Soon the Moon Kingdom will be destroyed and the rest of the Solar System will be ours, then, the universe. This is only where it begins."

* * *

The gigantic, ornately decorated throne room was bare, save for five people: Queen Serenity, Princess Serenity and the four Grand Generals, one of whom was speaking, a bald man with a pointed goatee and one green eye, the other covered by a patch. "…after which, the two target moons of Neptune will be liberated."

"That is indeed a risky move Tagmar," replied the silver haired queen. "But since you've proven to be a tactical genius in the past, this might work. Now, the real reason the four of you are here," she said, motioning to the other Grand Generals. "Princess General Cassandra's quadrant has seen an increase in action, as you well know. I'll let Cassandra take it from here."

"Thank You, My Queen," responded the princess walking forward, her long black hair flowing behind her. She set a small metal ball on a table that stood between the queen and the generals. "I went to an outpost that I have command over between Venus and Mercury for a status update. When I arrived, I found the entire outpost decimated." She pointed to the ball. "This is the security camera that captured the devastation. " She triggered a switch and a hologram popped up.

After a second of normal operation, an explosion started. And a demon-like monster emerged from the carnage alone and destroyed everything and everyone in sight. The men in the outpost fought hard, but couldn't bring the monster down. After a short while, the damage had been done, all the men were dead and the monster withdrew. Cassandra then restarted the hologram and froze the image full on the creature.

"As you can see," the princess started. "This youma is unusually acting alone and is strong enough to hold its own against an entire outpost. We have a bit of a problem."

"Maybe if we fight together in a total offensive strategy," started Jim, speculatively. "The four or us I mean, we could have a chance against it. With your fire," he pointed at Jason, "your ice," pointing at Cassandra, "my asteroids and meteoroids and your tactics," pointing at Tagmar, "We could bring it down."

"I agree that we may pose a threat to it, but we don't know this thing's true strength," replied Tagmar. "We need a better plan. One that has more of a chance than a straight up frontal assault. Though, I didn't expect anything less from Blindside."

"James may actually be right," interjected Queen Serenity. "However, I have an addition to his plan." Serenity motioned to her daughter, and the long blond haired princess walked to the wall and disappeared behind a secret passage. When she emerged, she was carrying a giant crystal on a pillow, flanked by two guards. When the four Grand Generals caught sight of the crystal, they respectfully drew their swords.

"Erm, no disrespect intended, Highness, what may I ask does the Imperium Silver Crystal have to do with our plan?" asked Jason.

The queen gently, but firmly grasped the crystal and slowly walked over to a large window, which had seven more pillows underneath. "Princess Cassandra," she said, turning towards the four. "I believe you've taken time to study what the Imperium Silver Crystal is capable of?"

"Among other things," recounted Jason's twin sister. "The crystal is capable of splitting into seven smaller, colored crystals. These crystals can supposedly seal items within them, but that's never been proven."

"Actually, I have proven it," admitted the queen. "When the war started, I wanted to see if it was true."

"Ok," started Jason." We weaken the thing and trap it into one of the rainbow crystals, can it escape?"

"No," replied Cassandra, shaking her head. "Not unless someone sets it free."

"A youma's own personal Hell," said Tagmar with a twisted grin. "I like it."

"So, I understand fighting it. But how do we trap it?" asked Jim inquisitively.

"With this," came the response from across the room.

Queen Serenity and the four generals turned to see Princess Serenity holding the Crescent Moon Wand. "We dock whichever shard of the rainbow

crystals is being used to this and use it to trap and seal the youma."

"That's a perfect plan, but one flaw," acknowledged Tagmar. "By law of the Moon Kingdom, only the Moon Royalty may hold the Imperium Silver Crystal, in whatever form, and the Wand."

"It's not a flaw General Bendix," replied Queen Serenity. "There's only one way to accomplish a task such as this."

Tagmar looked at the queen, then at the princess, and paused. "Combat duty combined with protection detail."

Jim smiled. "My favorite duties combined," he said quietly.

"Though one mistake can be horribly fatal," Cassandra reminded him.

"Just as it always is," acknowledged Tagmar. "Do we tell Endymion of this venture?"

"We could," replied the queen. "Another capable fighter wouldn't hurt, plus he loves her too much to let anything happen to her. His dedication would be a great asset."

Jason straightened his posture, tightly embraced his sword and strode over to Princess Serenity. He looked at her, kneeled and spoke. "Princes Serenity, I know I've said this to you before, but I swear that if anything happens to you, it will be after I lie cold and dead."

Just then, shouts rang through the walls, from the other side of the throne room door.

* * *

A thin, young servant was walking through the halls, heading towards his humble room. However, he turned a corner onto the hall that neighbored the Throne Room, and caught a guard with his ear to the door, listening intently. The guard next to him seemed to be in a daze. "Hey you!" he shouted, quickly walking up to the guard. "What are you doing?"

The guard shot the servant a dirty, poisonous look. "You have your duties to attend to don't you?" He asked quietly. "Shove off."

"I will most certainly not!" said servant, his voice increasing. "You have a duty to guard this door, not to eavesdrop on private conversations!"

"I said shut up, you blathering oaf!" the guard retorted, then drew into a whisper. "I'll give you all of what I'm paid next time if you just leave."

"I don't take bribes," the other man said, louder than he was a moment ago.

Just then the door to the throne room opened. "What's going on out here?" asked Grand General Jason as he exited, with the other three generals.

"I caught this guard eavesdropping," said the first man, whom Jason remembered as the messenger from earlier. "He seems to have entranced his colleague next to him!"

Just then, the guard drew a large knife. "For the glory of Beryl!" he shouted, viciously slashing the messenger before breaking into a run.

"Oh, not so fast!" yelled Tagmar as he produced his own knife and threw it at the running guard. The knife flew through the air and hit him in the back.

He screamed loudly and threw himself out the nearest window.

"Well, if the knife didn't kill him, the fall certainly did," said Jim with no trace of remorse.

"Here," said Jason helping the fallen messenger up.

"It's just a flesh wound," said the man.

"I admire your resolve," said Jason, who then turned to Jim, Tagmar and Cassandra. "Go reassure the Serenities, I'll take this guy to the hospital ward and make a quick communication. I'll be right back. We need to start planning the operation."

"You're assignment here is finished," Jason said to the messenger, loud enough so only the man he was helping heard. "I'll report in to Endymion for you. As soon as you're healed, you can head back to Earth."

"Thank you sir, but could you ask the prince if I could stay on here? I think that I might be of some use here."

"I'll see what I can do," replied Jason respectfully. "Endymion owes me a favor anyway. By the way, what's your name?"

"Yuichiro, sir. It's Yuichiro."


	3. War is not a Game

Six were seated around a table meant for eight. One spot seat was replaced with a hologram communicator, the other was uncharacteristically empty. Those seated were princesses, part of the Moon Kingdom Royal Court, ranking only under the Grand Generals and Queen Serenity. Soon, the communicator activated and the Princess of Pluto came into sight. "Neptune," she said, surprised. "I thought you, Tagmar and a commando unit were taking back two of your moons."

"Hello, Pluto," responded Neptune dryly. "We had to push our attack back due to the presence of that spy, but rest assured we will. I assume the Gate of Time is still well defended?"

Pluto smiled. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't. Is the princess of Saturn still asleep?"

A blonde with long hair picked up a deck of cards and started to shuffle them and a brunette spoke up. "Uranus and I went to check on her yesterday. She's sleeping soundly and shows little to no signs of waking any time soon."

"Good," responded the princess with long dark hair. "But what happens when she wakes?"

The princess of Uranus spoke up. "We'll tackle that when the time comes, Mars. For now, she's asleep and that's all that matters. Hey, Venus," she said turning to the blonde. "Stop shuffling and deal!"

"Alright, alright, keep your skirt on, Uranus," she said as she dealt five cards to everyone except Pluto, who had one of her servants deal for her on the other side of the hologram communicator.

"It's a shame that Serenity couldn't join us tonight," said Mercury. "This is the first week she hasn't been a played since the start of the war."

"It is unfortunate," said Venus sympathetically. "But she has a mission to accomplish. She has Endymion and the four Grand Generals at her side. If she needed us, she would have said so. All we can do is hope and pray that everything goes well. Now, the game is Five Card Draw, deuces wild."

* * *

Yuichiro noticed was laying in his hospital bed, where he was recovering from the stab wound inflicted on him by Beryl's spy. He noticed Prince Endymion walk in and hemoved to straighten up.

"Save your strength," said Endymion with a hand wave, sitting down on the chair beside the bed. "I heard from Prince Jason that you want to remain on the moon?"

"Yes sir," said the underling slowly.

"You're one of my best messengers. The only reason that I sent you here was to oust an unknown spy from our allies. Your job here is over, why do you wish to remain? Not because your job here was easier than on Earth, or more entertaining I hope."

"Oh, no sir," replied Yuichiro with a small laugh. "It's not due to difficulty or entertainment, I know war isn't a game, my reason is due to logic. Beryl sent that spy, when he doesn't report in, she'll correctly assume that he was found out and dealt wtih. However, she was, and still is, unaware that I was stationed here to sniff him out. By her knowledge, a member of the moon kingdom ousted him. She'll send more, more who are better trained at hiding their activities from the people of the moon. Since I'm not from here, I could be very useful at helping take them out."

"You make an interesting case," stated Endymion, standing up. "Give me some time to think about it. Right now, I have to escort and defend Princess Serenity while taking on a youma."

"Yes sir, thank you sir," said the other man, smiling and giving the best salute he could while lying down.

Endymion returned the salute. "Recover quickly," he said as he walked out of the room.

* * *

The transport landed just outside the Venusian outpost, and out walked Grand General Prince Jason, one hand on his sword, the other poised to immediately send a ball of flame towards any who attack. Following him were his brother, Grand General Prince James, his sister, Grand General Princess Cassandra, his colleague Grand General Tagmar Bendix, Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. They walked quietly in a single line up to the entrance, just as they were about to enter Tagmar broke the silence.

"How do you know the youma will show up here?"

"When I inspected the body of the spy," replied Jason casually, opening the door and walking into the main operations area of the outpost. "I noticed he had a small communicator. I used it to send a quick message to Beryl, telling her we knew about her awesome youma and that if she wanted to use it again, that I would be personally inspecting this outpost. She's always wanted me brutally annihilated so she won't pass this up." He turned toward the rest of the party. "And since I made no mention of the rest of you, or you my princess, we have the advantage. We must use it wisely."

"Where is everyone?" asked Jim looking around.

"Mars and I relocated them to a barracks on Phobos," replied Cassandra. "I figured keeping them here would muddy everything up, with confusion and all. Plus, I really don't want that many deaths."

"I heartily concur," agreed Endymion, nodding.

"Well, we're here," said Serenity, sounding nervous and unsure. "And the youma isn't. What now?"

Jason turned to her slowly. "We wait," he said, giving her a piercing stare, but loosened up almost immediately. "Look princess, I know that you want nothing more than this war to be over, I know that all you want to be is a girl, a girl in love with no royal duties. Make no mistake, I know. But don't assume that you're the only one that doesn't want to be here. I'd rather be back on the moon, holding Venus in my arms and just looking at her." Jason turned and walked to the other side of the room. "I want this whole war over."

Serenity watched the general walk away and tightened the hold she had on the Crescent Moon Wand, which had the Red Crystal Shard docked onto it. The other crystals rested on their pillows, hidden in the Throne Room's secret chamber under heavy guard. She broke her stare off of Jason and looked at the wand. _I know this is dangerous and I do feel unsure and a little frightened, but with Endymion and the Grand Generals here, I feel more safe than frightened._

* * *

The door opened into the dimly lit, cavernous room, where Queen Beryl sat on her usurped throne. She noticed the man's silhouette and beckoned him to enter.

"Queen Beryl," said the short haired, blonde man wearing the Dark Kingdom's purple general's uniform. "I have news, from both the line and the moon"

The sinister queen smiled. "I always have time for news, Jedite. Speak."

"Some of the sectors in the quadrant that Prince Jason is in control over have refortified, we've stopped gaining ground and they're attempting the Gervex Counterattack, the move is currently in its beginning stages."

"Gervex has been attempted by him before," said the queen, a bit puzzled. "It was generally unsuccessful, why would he be trying it again?" Beryl thought for a moment. "No matter, defend the same way we did last time, unless his brother shows up again, we have nothing to worry about. If he does, go into the Zid Assault. Now what else?"

"Well my queen, our man inside has informed me that the message we were given about only Prince Jason going to face Gesen is false. It turns out that the other three Grand Generals, Endymion and Princess Serenity will be there as well. Shall we inform Gesen that there will be others waiting for him?"

Beryl wasted no time in responding. "No. Let it be a surprise," she said with a tight, twisted grin. "Gesen just _loves _to be caught off guard." Suddenly, Beryl burst into maniacally sinister and menacing laughter.

* * *

Jason was stoically pacing the main command room, while Endymion and Serenity were sitting across the room, watching him. "I don't like this. I expected the monster here much earlier, and it's quiet, too quiet for my liking. It's like the damn thing is messing with my head." Just then, Jim and Cassandra burst in from an adjoining room, so loud and abrasive that Jason turned to him, drew his sword, lit his hand aflame and poised. Seeing that it was just his brother, he backed down. "What?"

"The radar is picking up something," said Jim rapidly.

"And it's coming in fast and showing no signs of slowing down," cut in his sister.

Suddenly, Tagmar ran in from his outside lookout post, with his sword drawn. "It's incoming! Looks like it's going to ram into the building!"

Jason wasted no time. "Serenity, get over to the other wall, Endymion, you and Tagmar cover her, Jim and Cassie, on me!"

Just as Serenity had protection and the other two got to Jason's side, a red and white cybernetic youma came crashing through the wall. It stopped, stood and looked at the six of them and growled loudly. "Gesen!"

"Nice name," yelled Jim as he materialized an average, ball-sized asteroid and threw it at him. "But I don't care! Rock and Roll!"

Gesen extended a spiked hammer from his wrist pack and batted the asteroid back at Jim, flinging him across the room and through the wall. Jason drew his sword and cut the hammer while Cassandra ran into him, slamming Gesen to the ground. But as quick as he went down, he sprang back up, grabbed Cassandra and threw her into some operations equipment to his left.

While Gesen was throwing Cassandra, Tagmar threw a large knife from across the room. It hit Gesen in the leg, who howled, drooping to a knee. Jason took advantage of Gesen's defenselessness, took his sword and cracked him over the head with the hilt. But the blow didn't faze Gesen, who stood up, took the knife out of his leg and slashed it at Jason, grazing his arm. Barely unnerved, Jason retaliated; swinging his sword at him, but Gesen blocked with the knife. He pushed Jason back and threw the blade at Serenity. Endymion acted swiftly, catching the knife in before it hit the princess.

Jason, retaliated, lunging his sword at Gesen, who blocked with his own sword extending from his wrist pack, extended a claw from his other wrist, grabbed Jason's sword and freed it from his grasp. He flung it behind him and raised his own sword to Jason's neck. "GESEN!"

Jason twisted a smile. "The sword was just my first line of defense." He lit his hand with red hot flames and threw fireballs into Gesen's face, which knocked him back. Quickly, Jason took another advantage, picked him up and threw him across the room.

Jim, from through the hole he was thrown through, saw Gesen thrown, stood up and walked up next to Gesen. He prepared himself, jumped up and body slammed the youma. Got up again, picked him up and then threw a piledriver. Getting up, he saw a look of amazement on his older brother's face and turned to face Tagmar. "That's why they call me Blindside." He turned to Serenity. "Princess, I suggest you do it now."

Serenity looked at Jim, then the youma. "Oh, right." She pointed the Crescent Moon Want at Gesen and yelled, "Crystal Imprisonment!" Weakly, Gesen tried to resist the pull into the crystal shard, but couldn't. As he was being imprisoned, he let out one final yell, "GESENnnnn"

As Jason and Tagmar helped Cassandra out of the equipment that Gesen slammed her into, Serenity stared at Jim. "They call you Blindside because of your power?"

"Well," said Jim, starting an explanation. "It's because I'm crazily unpredictable."

"I see," replied Endymion. "I'm glad I'm on your side."

"As are we all," interjected Jason. "Now, let's get back to the moon. We need to combine the crystals back into the Imperium Silver Crystal, relocate the men back here so they can get back to work and give a full report to the queen. Plus, I want to see Princess Venus."


	4. By a Knockout

The day started like every other, Colonel Ersatz sipped his coffee as he began his morning inspection of the Oberon Field Hospital he commanded. While there hadn't been much recent wounded, the staff had gotten restless and prank happy. Ersatz would have to be completely aware in his inspection of the operating room.

He entered and looked around. The only thing amiss was the out of place scrub laundry bag. Cautiously inching towards the bag, he kept a sharp eye for anything that would spring to trick him. Reaching his target and kicking it just to be safe, he found nothing happened. Ersatz gathered up the spillage, placed it back into the bag and put it in its rightful place. While heading to inspect the supply office, he made a quick mental note about the instance.

As Ersatz exited out of the Operating Room, he was approached by two of his surgeons, his best, Major Larry Xavier and his worst, Captain Alan Dumbreck. "What is it this time guys?" asked the commanding officer exasperatedly.

The captain, who Ersatz billed the most annoying man assigned to the hospital, spoke first. "Colonel, I come to you with a complaint, one that I have registered with you time and time again. The manner of this camp is hardly military at all. I mean what if Princess Uranus, one of the Grand Generals or even the queen herself came for an inspection? They would be absolutely horrified; not only at how severely lacking we are in military discipline, but how incompetent command is here."

But Ersatz wasn't listening. While he usually tried to block Dumbreck out whenever he was delivering another one of his rants, this time, he wasn't just ignoring the man.

"Colonel!" yelled Dumbreck again. "Why aren't you listening to me!?"

"Yes, I hear you Frank, but there's something in the distance, and it's getting closer."

"Stop getting my name wrong, colonel! It's Alan, not Frank! And what do you see that could possibly be more important than how this camp is run?"

Larry turned to see what the colonel was speaking of and took out a pair of binoculars. "It looks like winged man with red eyes and boxing gloves."

Ersatz wasted no time. "Boys, we've got a youma on our hands, and while there's just one right now, there may be more behind. Get the recovering wounded, nurses and enlisted men onto transports to escape to the moon, and then get the rest of the officers into the center of the compound. We may not be a fighting unit, but we will defend our hospital to the end."

The two officers ran off to carry out the colonel's orders and Ersatz stood there for a moment in silence. When the alarm started to ring, he straightened his uniform and headed to his quarters to write a letter. He was ready to accept his fate.

* * *

"Endymion and I have discussed your request of transfer. He has agreed to let you stay. However, your position will not be decided until you make a full recovery. "

Yuichiro, who had nearly recovered from his stab wound, looked up at the General addressing him. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity sir."

Jason smiled. "It was thanks to you that we discovered the spy. No matter where you get placed, you'll be as great an asset to the moon as you were on Earth. I'm glad to see that you've almost ready to get out of here, now if you'll excuse me."

Jason gave the man a salute and left the hospital ward, intending to head over to a training base on Mercury. As he was walked down a corridor, he heard his name being called. He turned to see a black cat with a yellow crescent on its forehead on the other end of the hallway.

"Luna," he responded while walking towards the cat. "What can I do for you?"

"The queen sent me to look for you. Another lone youma has taken out one of our units.. Princess Uranus is already in audience, everything will be explained when you arrive."

_ Figures another powerful youma would attack something while Tagmar is leading the commando team and while Jim and Cassandra are training spec ops forces. _"Right, I'm on my way Luna."

* * *

The halls of the Earth Palace were dark and empty, save for Queen Beryl and Zoicite, another one of her generals, walking in the darkness. "You sent Bokushi out as I commanded?"

"Yes, my queen," replied the loyal follower. "In fact, the mission I gave him is complete and he is already back. Though most of the personnel escaped, the officers stayed and were decimated along with the hospital. "

"Excellent, very good, Zoicite," responded the superior. "By now, the war has taken a toll on both sides; however, by unleashing our most powerful fighters, we can whittle the rest of the Moon Kingdom away. Go back to Bokushi, I have a new assignment for you give him."

"As you wish my queen," he said. "Whatever your assignment is, Bokushi will accomplish it by a knockout."

"…it is with my sincerest hopes that the escapees safely reach the moon. I am grateful for all the years of service that I was able to give to the kingdom." Jason lowered the letter that Ersatz had written and sighed looking the queen. "I understand this is a war and that military stations will be attacked. Barracks, defense stations, outposts, prisons, convoys, I am well aware they are all susceptible. But attacking hospitals is just plain low, even for Beryl."

"Low or not," replied Princess Uranus in a low hiss. "It happened. The question is: what do we do? How do we take it out? I want it neutralized."

"That's the problem," mused Jason, looking at the ceiling. "The trick I pulled on Beryl won't work again. Even if I DID find a way to contact her, she just wouldn't believe me… can't see why not."

"And to top it all off," interjected the queen. "Tagmar is with Neptune on a recovery mission and your other two contemporaries are training in enemy territory. It's not fitting to recall everyone for a full scale assault on earth when we're not ready or prepared just to avenge one hospital."

"Understandable," replied Jason and Uranus in unison as they were about to leave the presence of the Queen and her daughter. "Message and bait?" Jason asked his friend under his breath.

"You know it," she responded.

However, before the two could leave, the door to the throne room opened and Luna ran in along with her white counterpart, Artemis. "We've just received a message from one of Endymion's spy's inside Beryl's castle," informed the first.

"The youma that attacked the field hospital on Oberon has new orders," continued Artemis. "It's heading for another one on Titania. Endymion's already on his way there"

Jason quickly formulated a plan. "Princess Serenity, split the crystal and dock one of the shards, then meet me and Uranus at my personal transport. I'll contact Endymion and tell him to converge with us en route. Let's go!"

* * *

The sound of the battle raged around him, the screams of soldiers from both sides, the cries of youma, it was all too familiar for him. Tagmar was where he belonged: on the battlefield. As he currently fought to retake Thalassa, Neptune was on the other side of his communicator, retaking Proteus.

He and his men had so far been victorious, but the commander still had to be dealt with in the base's control room. He threw one of his knives into the back of a Dark Kingdom soldier so one of his men could enjoy even odds and gathered support of some men around him.

"Listen! The day is almost ours, but there is still the matter of the enemy commander!" He said as he impaled a youma with his sword. "Any free man, follow and cover me as I head to the control room!"

Tagmar bolted for the hallway connecting the main part of the base to the control room, cutting down any enemy in his way, followed by five of his men doing the same. Encountering very little resistance, they soon made it to where the commander was holed up, door guarded by two youma bodyguards.

A man behind Tagmar threw a shuriken into the jugular of the first youma and Tagmar sliced the second's head off and turned to the group behind him. "I go in alone. Stay out here and guard the door. If the enemy comes out, slaughter him. In case it's a shape shifter, I'll knock three times." With those words, he went in.

* * *

Grand General Prince Jason's transport landed on Titania and the small team descended upon the moon. "I swear," started Jason as he walked out. "As soon as this war is over, I'm going straight there and getting a new transport, something smaller and faster. If they make any like that anyway."

"Oh I'm sure they do," replied Endymion. "But the very few that immigrate from that galaxy to here wouldn't bring them. It's pretty much dead weight for those starting new lives."

"I quite agree, and I completely understand why a colonization project would bring older transport models. But sometimes I wish we took them up on their offer of their weapons. A laser rifle would be amazing against certain youma."

"I don't mean to interrupt," butt in Uranus sarcastically. "But we have to find the youma that destroyed the field hospital before it destroys the next one. Now the target is three kilometers that way," she said pointing to her right. "What we need to know is where the enemy is coming from."

"I'd say it's right over there!" chimed in panicked Serenity, to Uranus' right. "And it's getting closer!"

"What luck," said Jason, igniting his hand. "Let's stop it." He raised a fireball from his flaming hand and let it linger in the air, finally sending it towards the youma with a well placed kick, yelling "Solar Flare!"

The attack collided with the monster, knocking it out of the air, sending it falling to the ground and Sailor Uranus set up for a "World Shaking" attack. The fight for Titania's field hospital had begun.

Tagmar closed the door behind him and looked around. He saw nothing than a chart, a desk, behind, a hanging sword and a chair with its back to him. "Your sister sends her regards Tagmar Bendix," said a female voice.

"You can tell Beryl that she ceased to be my sister when she started this war," growled Tagmar, rage starting to boil. "Well, if you leave this rock alive."

"I have every intention of doing so, Tagmar Bendix." Replied the voice calmly. "You may be a skilled fighter, but so am I. In fact, I can kill you and every one of your men beyond the door. "

"Who are you?" asked the general through gritted teeth.

"Why Tagmar, I'm surprised you don't recognize my voice," said the commander as she turned around to reveal a woman with hair darker than Jason's. A woman that had one amber eye and the other blood red.

"Lucinda," said Tagmar, unclenching his teeth. "I can't believe you're still alive. What's more is that I can't believe you're fighting for my slime ball of a sister."

"She came to me. She came to me after that failure on Phobos, the one where we were sent in to kill General Lawsonite. Remember that one? You left me to die!" Lucinda finished with an enraged look on her face, then calmed back down. "But Beryl found me; she took me in and healed me. She told me that unlike you in the Moon Kingdom, they would never just leave me to die."

"Lucinda," said Tagmar desperately. "I tried to save you!" I really did!"

"Shut up!" yelled the woman back, reaching for the sword behind her. "You didn't try! You didn't try at all! If you did, you would have looked for me afterwards!"

"Lucinda, get a hold of yourself!" yelled Tagmar, even more desperate. "Let me explain!"

"There's nothing left to explain Bendix!" snapped the howling mad woman in front of him, sword now in front of her. "So let's end this once and for all. Let me kill you here and now."

"No," said Tagmar blatantly, putting his hands up. "I'm not going to fight you."

"Then it should be easier for me," replied Lucinda with a twisted grin on her face. She jumped up onto the desk and lunged at the man.

* * *

Bokushi had noticed Uranus' "World Shaking" while falling and countered, "Lovely Punch!" redirecting the attack back from where it came and landed, sending the others scrambling

"Smart monster," commented Endymion. "Sure wish we had Jim here, his unpredictability would be great."

"I can be unpredictable too," replied Jason, sword in one hand, ball of flame in another. He swung his sword towards the youma and lit it on fire with his other hand. "FLAMING STRIKE!"

The youma, with its fast reflexes, caught the sword, falling for the trap. Uranus appeared behind him and sucker punched the monster across the head, allowing the other three to move in closer. Bokushi kicked Uranus' feet out from under her and rose, set to attack. He noticed Jason out of the corner of his eye and turned to attack the prince instead but was swiftly tackled.

While pinning the youma , Jason smacked Bokushi's head into the landscape, driving the monster unconscious. "Serenity," he said strongly. "Now."

"Yes," said the princess, raising the Crescent Moon Wand. "Crystal Imprisonment!" And without a sound, the youma was pulled in and imprisoned into the orange crystal shard docked onto the moon wand.

"Right," said Uranus, standing back up. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Tagmar dodged the sword that his former friend and military contemporary swung at him. "I don't want to fight you! What happened to the Lucinda Ravenard I used to know?"

"She died!" yelled the enraged woman, setting for another swing. "Died in that Martian cave!" She swung again and missed. "Died in that explosion!" Swung again. "Died along with the pigmentation of my right eye!"

Tagmar could see that Lucinda wouldn't stop, she wouldn't listen to any amount of explaining or reason, she had completely believed whatever his black-hearted, usurper of a queen sister told her. Knowing that he couldn't keep dodging forever, he tried to find a way to stop her. Suddenly, he thought of a way to immobilize her.

Quickly he jumped on the desk and delivered a swift kick to her hand, thus disarming her. He then used his advantage and kicked her in the chest, knocking her back. He jumped down, drew his sword, moved forward and clocked her with the hilt. She dropped to the floor, immobile and out cold. Breathing a sigh of relief, Tagmar dragged her body towards the door. About to open it, he stopped suddenly remembering that unless he gave the triple knock, his men would kill him as a shape shifter. He proceeded to give three straight "thunks" to the door and opened it.

"Sir," said the first man closest. "Orders?

Tagmar pulled Lucinda from behind him. "Tie her up and put her on the troop transport. Keep a constant guard, if she starts to wake up, knock her back out."

"Yes sir," said the man as he took hold of Lucinda's unconscious body, motioning for the others to help him. "I wasn't aware that you took prisoners."

Tagmar glared at him for a second. "I usually don't"


	5. Foresight

Grand General Prince Jason was in his room, hurriedly packing a small duffel when he heard a knock on his door. "Enter," he said without breaking his stride. The door opened and Grand General Tagmar Bendix came into the room. "Oh good," said Jason with a smile. "You got the message."

"Yes," replied Tagmar stroking his goatee. "What did you want to see me about? There is a matter I need to attend to in the dungeon.

"Taking prisoners," replied Jason with a small chuckle. "I guess people can change. But that's not why I called you here." He finished packing and tied the bag closed. "I'm heading to Venus so I can oversee a court martial. Corporal Tethman Winx is being tried for the fifth time and I want to witness firsthand how he squirms out of these things. "He slung the pack onto his shoulder and started toward the door, motioning for Tagmar to follow.

"Tomorrow," continued the prince walking down the hall alongside Bendix. "Major Helvyn will be checking in to give a status update on how the Gervex Counterattack is doing. I have told him to report in to you."

"And what would you like me to tell him?" asked the other man.

"If the enemy was foolish enough to repeat their first defense against Gervex, have them feign a retreat. When their forces seem assured, have them execute the Shadowflame."

"Shadowflame hasn't been executed in the field yet though," interjected Tagmar. "You've only presented the tactic in ideal conditions in a simulated war game."

"Remember this, Tagmar," explained Jason as they stopped in front of a door. "Every plan has a flaw, a weakness that can be exploited. No matter how hard you try to make one that doesn't, you will fail. The only way to expose these weaknesses is in the heat of a real battle. Then, and only then, can you begin to fix them. Show me a plan that completely survives contact with the enemy, and I'll show you the dumbest and weakest fools to ever fight. If Shadowflame ends up being the plan of action, I cannot wait to see how it fares. However, if they have tried anything else, have them begin the Yasmar Blitz"

"My predecessor's signature tactic, it hasn't been used since he died."

"Exactly, no matter what they decided to defend with, they won't know what to expect. Now if you'll excuse me," said Jason as the door opened to reveal a hallway to the transport hangar. "I have a court martial to get to."

Jason disappeared through the door and Tagmar turned to make way down the direction from where the two men came.

After walking through more corridors and descending two levels of the palace, Tagmar found himself staring at the heavy iron door to the dungeon, flanked by two loyal guards. "What cell is she in?" asked the general.

"The very last," came the reply.

"Thank you," he said as he ventured in.

* * *

"My Queen," said a white haired man at the end of a long, dark hallway.

"What is it Kunzite," asked Beryl from the other end, not turning around. "I'm very busy."

"We have received word that Prince Jason will be heading to Venus to oversee an operation of some sort."

"Where do we get our information from? Our source?"

"No your highness, Bunpo has foreseen it."

"Odd," said the queen. "Bunpo doesn't usually have foresight over such a long range. Can we be sure it's accurate?"

"I'm not sure myself. Though if we don't act as if it is, we might miss a perfect chance to take out the long stubborn thorn in our side, it might be our only one too."

"Yes," acknowledge the queen, finally turning. "You're right. And as such, you'll be accompanying Bunbo. There is something I want you to do for me."

* * *

The throne room doors opened as Prince Endymion entered the presence of Queen Serenity, escorted by Princesses Cassandra and Venus. "Is the escort really necessary every time?"

"My subjects are fearful of anyone from earth," explained the queen. "As such, my guards are always on alert for them. If you were caught alone, they would apprehend and interrogate you. With the two princess escorting you, there is no fear and no reason for a chase."

"Your point is understood. Now I came to discuss the future of our mutual friend, Yuichiro. While I don't necessarily like giving him up, his point is valid and I admire his dedication to the war."

"As do I," acknowledged Serenity. "And I understand your hesitance to give him up. However, he did recognize the spy very quickly, the fastest I've ever seen. I believe he should stay here, but under a different cover. He should additionally be trained under Grand General Prince Jason."

"Is there any specific reason for the additional training?" asked Endymion, remembering when he and Jason trained a special commando unit.

"Jason told me that he sensed a special ability in the man, we believe he could be a High General, under Jason."

"He informed me that he sensed something from him as well. Anyway, the plan sounds solid, I agree with you."

"Then it's settled," confirmed Serenity. "Once Yuichiro makes a complete recovery, he shall begin training.

* * *

"The question still hangs in the air Corporal Crex; were you or were you not aware that the zone you attacked was full of Moon Kingdom soldiers instead of Earth soldiers or youma?

"And as I told you before," retorted the man on trial. "I heard more voices that sounded like earth soldiers and youma than those of our own. I could not possibly tell."

"This is going nowhere," said Jason to himself while rubbing his forehead. "Anyone else feel the need for a half our recess? I need some Martian Whiskey."

"I sure could use one," responded the captain to Jason's left. "Very well, the court finds it necessary to take a recess."

Suddenly, a large pair of shears came ripping through the tent the trial was being held in and cut two soldiers neatly in half.

"Lieutenant," said Jason calmly to the man behind him, not bothering to turn around. "And general.

"Ye… Yes sir?" replied the terrified men.

"Lieutenant, Contact the palace; tell them we've got another one on our hands. They'll understand what it means. General his call is done, get everyone off this facility."

"Yes sir!" yelled the men as they ran off to fulfill their duties.

As the rest of the tent emptied, Jason unsheathed his sword and walked out to face a monstrous dark green and silver creature with shears for hands. Lighting his hand, he simply asked one question. "And you are?"

"I am Bunbo!" the youma responded with a growl.

"That's all I need to know," said Jason as he threw a fireball towards the monster and began to run towards it.

Dodging the attack, Bunbo prepared himself and headbutted the oncoming general square in the chest, knocking him back.

"Interesting," admitted Jason as he recovered from the blow. _Can he sense my attacks? Maybe if I deal multiple at once. _Looking around, he noticed that all the men were safely gone, he alone faced the attacker. Promptly he lit his sword and jumped towards the enemy.

Tracking him, Bunbo let loose another shear, which cut Jason's leg, knocking him out of the air.

Crashing to the ground, he carefully kneeled, ready to fight through whatever pain befell him. "For glory," he said quietly to himself as Bunbo edged toward him.

Standing up, he threw his sword and charged once more, this time throwing a volley of fireballs.

Bunbo once again dodged the projectiles aimed his arm and fired another shear, which hit Jason straight in the stomach.

Falling backwards, he could see only sky, but heard twisted laughter, laughter that sounded like a human's. Straining to stay conscious, he could see the laughter's source looming over him. "Ku… Kunzite."

Kunzite responded with only a sneer and a swift blow to the head, knocking him out.

* * *

"You understand that I'm not going to let you out of here," said Tagmar to a sullen Lucinda sitting behind the bars of a cell. "Not until I talk you out of what's happened to you."

"You don't get it," said Lucinda darkly. "There is no going back for me. Beryl has helped me see my errors of fighting with your side."

"What exactly did she do?" asked Tagmar as he grabbed a stool for a seat.

"It would be hard to explain to you," said Lucinda as she moved into the darkness of her cell. "You're oblivious, set in how you think the Moon Kingdom could possibly win. You're a fool."

"I'd rather be a fool than evil," affirmed Tagmar, stroking his goatee. "Did she show you something?"

"Indeed she did," laughed Lucinda, her red eye glowing through the darkness. "Glorious warriors that can demolish bases and destroy and kill your people with ease."

"She's already unleashed them," said Tagmar. "And they've proved no match against our best fighters."

"It's only the beginning though," she said straightly. "There's more coming, more powerful and more able. They'll rip through your lines like paper."

As she broke out in laughter, Tagmar realized there was nothing more he could do, he was a fighter and a tactician, not a human psychologist. As he stood up, the door to the dungeon opened and Artemis appeared. "Tagmar, come to the Throne Room quickly, there's been a dire emergency."

Sprinting out of the dungeon, he heard nothing but his footsteps and Lucinda's laughter fading in the distance.


	6. Vision of the Past

Queen Serenity paced around her throne room, hoping for news of the war's newest complication. The most recent message expressed disaster on Venus. Another one of what Grand General Tagmar was calling "Super Youma" had surfaced during a court martial. While a call had come in for reinforcement, Serenity didn't know how long the monster had been there before or for how long Jason could hold out on his own. He had proven formidable in the past, but even the greatest warriors had their limits.

Suddenly, the doors to the throne room opened and her daughter, Princess Serenity slowly entered holding the Crescent Moon Wand, followed by Princesses Venus and Cassandra and Princes James and Endymion.

"Success?" she asked with a smile.

"Partially," said Princess Serenity quietly as she went to recombine the shards into the full crystal.

"What she means to say," interrupted Jim. "Is that we were able to imprison the youma in the yellow shard. He was waiting for us. Jason," he continued, looking at the ground, "was not."

"Before we imprisoned Blinky there," continued Tagmar with a growl. "We beat him down real good. Told him we'd spare him if he'd tell us what happened to Jason. And for what it's worth, imprisonment in that shard is a reward."

"A reward from what?" asked the queen, narrowing her eyes.

"I would have ruthlessly killed him," yelled Venus with an enraged look in her eyes, "Savagely destroyed him, tore his limbs off and used his own weapons against him." She shot a dark look towards Cassandra. "Why didn't you let me!?"

"Imagine this fury magnified by eleven," responded Cassandra coolly, putting her hand on Venus' shoulder. "And you get what I felt like when Augite killed Grand General Yasmar Giarc. I had to fight to control the rage. You, on the other hand, are much more impulsive than I. Killing out of sheer rage and anger does nothing but harm yourself and those around you."

"Will someone please tell me what happened to Jason!?" yelled the queen.

"Serenity," said Endymion. "Jason has been captured. We don't know where he is. Not even the youma knew."

"We did find his sword though," said Jim holding the weapon. "Either he threw it, or whoever took him discarded it. What are we going to do, my queen?"

Serenity sighed, and looked to the floor. "I don't know James. I don't think there's anything we can do."

* * *

Groggy and in pain, Jason opened his eyes and tried to look around. He was in a convict transport, bound to an iron bed-slab with metal sleeves covering his arms. "Where am I?"

"In a transport," came a synthesized reply from a speaker to the prince's left.

"Any clue as to where?" asked Jason, remaining calm, doing his best to scan his surroundings.

"That bit of information is not important, to you."

"Is it important for me to know why you didn't leave me to die on Venus," said Jason with minor annoyance.

"As much as some of us would have liked to," responded the voice with no inflection. "It was against our orders."

_At least our enemy has that going for them, they can follow orders. Stupid order though, why would Kunzite make me a prisoner instead of having me killed? I'm too dangerous, he knows that. It'd be better for him to kill me and present a corpse to Beryl. Unless…_

"Where's Kunzite?" he demanded from the person on the other end.

"We're closing in on our destination, no more questions."

"Wait," he said, but wasn't able to continue, a large object came into contact with his head and all he could get out was a descending "Dinsdale?"

* * *

Late in a golden afternoon, two old friends were walking along the Moon Palace Garden, sharing a conversation, as they always did so long ago.

"The days are getting shorter," said Jason looking up. "But they feel longer, a lot longer than normal."

"Try being in my shoes," said a white haired man walking alongside him. "Some of the new trainees for the army are some of the most brainless, spineless twits to ever walk the earth. Trying to make soldiers out of them brings the days to a stop."

"Oh I'd trade with you without looking back, Kunzite," said Jason smiling, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "But while I think I could handle a couple of idiot recruits, I don't think you'd be up to the task for a prince's job."

"It depends on the prince," retorted Kunzite mockingly. "Endymion's job I couldn't handle. Yours on the other hand seems to be one of the easiest I've ever seen. You have what? Three hours worth of work a day at the max? Yeah you work real hard."

"I handle the technical aspects of the domain. Cassie's in charge of the diplomacy and whatnot. I'm no good at that kind of stuff. I think that may be where my hatred of titles comes from. I feel more like a glorified general. But," said Jason, quickly changing the subject, "I do have one advantage to your being Captain of the Guards on earth."

"And that would be?"

"I see Venus every day, you don't."

"That's less of an advantage and more of a cruel hand dealt to you." said Kunzite with a small laugh. "You should remember, I'm the one in the relationship with her. You know," he said as he stopped laughing, "Jealousy isn't really one of your best qualities."

"Who's jealous?" asked Jason really fast, looking at a bush to his left. "I'm not jealous. She and I are really good friends."

"Jason, you're a terrible liar."

"Yeah, but it never hurts to try every now and again," he said as they continued on.

* * *

Kunzite strode down the hallway, flanked by two of his human underlings. "Has he been any trouble?"

"No trouble at all sir," responded the man on his right. "He's still out cold from earlier."

"Then I guess it's time he came back to the world of consciousness," said Kunzite as they reached the cell they had put the prince in.

Entering, he made his way towards the chained prince, hanging on the wall and braced himself to wake up his former friend, knowing well enough how dangerous the man could be.

Receiving a hard slap to the face, Jason woke screaming "REVERSE THE JELLY BABY OF THE NEUTRON FLOW!"

Kunzite quickly stepped back and with a shocked look asked, "what?"

"Sorry," apologized a groggy prince. "It was a very odd dream. Where am I?"

"A small asteroid," explained Kunzte stepping closer to Jason. "You're on a hidden prison that I had made before the war. It was mainly to be used to interrogate the most dangerous prisoners. Recently, when Queen Beryl had Bunbo attack your position on Venus, she asked me to go and… acquire you. I brought you here so we could wait for a more heavily armed escort."

"Why capture me though? Why not simply kill me when I was down and bring me to her? You could have done it easily."

"It was Beryl's precise orders to bring you to her. After all you've done, she wants to kill you personally. "

"I should be so lucky," responded Jason in a deadpan tone. "Maybe she'll congratulate you for bringing me by letting you watch me be annihilated. Something you haven't been able to do for the past five years. Tell me, how hard was it for you to merely knock me out instead of killing me?"

"Hard enough," growled Kunzite, glaring at Jason. "Every time I see you, it reminds me of Venus."

"Wanting to kill me because I'm an enemy, that's reasonable, but wanting to kill me because you miss Venus… It just makes you a jealous twit."

"Half the time I want to kill you because you're the enemy, yes," said Kunzite through gritted teeth. "The other half is because you stole Venus from me."

"Spare me the whole 'I stole Venus away from you' rant," said Jason annoyed. "I remember it from when we encountered each other in the South Pole two years ago. You were distracted long enough for me to get away. However, seeing as I'm all chained up this time. Let me tell you something. I didn't steal her from you. Your own choices brought about your split"

"LIES!" screamed Kunzite loud enough that the cell's guards had to look in. "The escort should be here within a day," said Kunzite, noticing them and calming down. "I should just knock you out again, just to satisfy myself.

"Wooden door!" said Jason quickly as Kunizite prepared another blow to his head.

"What?" asked Kunzite, fist frozen in place, ready to strike

"A wooden door," said Jason, breathing rapidly. "Why is an asteroid like a wooden door? You want to know," he continued as Kunzite looked at him. "Think about it before you answer. If you knock me out, I won't ever tell you."

"I suppose I can keep you awake this time," said Kunzite as he brought down his fist and turned around to exit the cell. "I'll come back when the escort arrives. With an answer."

_The truths about Venus hurt doesn't it old friend? Maybe you'll think about that instead of that riddle._

* * *

"My lady," said a messenger opening Venus' door. "You have a visitor."

"Thank you, Junter," responded Venus, looking up from the book she was reading. "Just send them in."

"Hello Venus," said a voice from the door watching her open her balcony windows.

"Hello Kunzite," she responded, motioning him to sit with her. "I saw you and Prince Jason in the gardens earlier. What were you two up to?"

"Oh you know," he said with a smile. "Just talking, some meaningless banter between friends."

"You've been telling him that his job is simple again haven't you?"

"Well, yes. But in my defense it is! Anything's easy when the work is split between twins. But that's not what's important. You are," he said, smile growing.

"Thanks," she said with a smile, a gentle breeze flowing through her hair. "I hear there's been a bit of an ill wind on earth. "

"Oh yes," affirmed Kunzite, the same breeze flowing through his hair. "There are rumors of a single peasant woman trying to overthrow Prince Endymion. She has a brother as well; he's a lieutenant under me. But I've been gathering that he'd rather not talk about her."

"What would you do if she were to overthrow the prince?"

"Simple answer to a simple question," said Kunzite shifting in his chair. "My job."

"But I thought your loyalties lied with Endymion," said a confused Venus.

"My loyalties lie with whoever is on the throne and in charge."

"You… wouldn't try to stop her uprising and overthrow of the prince?"

"I would," responded the soldier. "But that's because Endymion would order me to stop her. If her overthrow succeeded and she was to be on the throne, I would obey her. I obey whoever is giving the commands.

"Even if she was evil?" asked the princess.

"Again," stated Kunzite, shifting again. "I obey whoever is on the throne. If the regime happens to change, then I go along with that change. I have no say in how things are ruled. My purpose is to lead the fighting men, not to argue.

"If she overthrows Endymion," started Venus. "She'll have the Earth, but won't be content with that. She'll want the moon, then she'll grab all the planets and control the Solar System! That would end our relationship, make us enemies."

"It would," affirmed Kunzite. "I hope the rumors are just rumors and that there will be no overthrow of Endymion. But if there is, and she reaches for the rest of the Solar System, I must do my duties as Captain of the Guard. I cannot let—"

"You're horrible!" shouted Venus, standing. "You'd throw away our relationship so you could keep your position? Friends mean more than that! We mean more than that! At least, I thought we did."

"Venus," said Kunzite, reaching a hand to her, trying to calm her down. "It hasn't happened yet, and it may not."

"You just don't get it! Get out," she screamed, pointing towards her door. "Get out! Get out! Get out! We're through and I don't want to see you again! That should make it easier for you if it does happen!"

"Very well," said Kunzite as he stood.

She slumped back in her chair and tried to make sound, but couldn't.

"Harsh," came a familiar voice below her after a few moments.

"Jason, how long have you been under there?" she asked softly.

"Long enough," responded the voice of the prince. "I was walking by and I heard you talking about the usurper to the throne."

"What do we do if it happens?" she asked.

"I've already been figuring it out since I first heard of the rumors," said Jason, climbing up to face the Princess. "I've spoken with Prince Endymion and Queen Serenity about it."

Hopping onto the balcony, Jason sat next to Venus' chair. "Endymion gathers those that are loyal to him alone, not to merely whoever sits on the throne, and flees to a hidden place that he and I have already scouted for and starts a rebellion against the usurper. When the villain sets her eyes on the rest of the system, Queen Serenity, Cassandra, my brother James and I make our loose friendly ties into an allied force. We then convince you other princesses to do the same, except for Saturn who hopefully remains asleep and Pluto who's been allied with the moon for as long as time itself. The alliance then joins with Endymion's rebellion and we fight."

* * *

Jason silently watched the guards from his cell. _I've been in worse situations before, can't really remember when. _

Just then, three men came into the cell block and spoke with the guards.. Carefully listening, Jason could barely hear them. "Word from Lord Kunzite. The envoy has almost arrived and we need to move him. Kunzite will meet us at the landing area."

_Only three?_ _He's either growing stupider by the minute or forgotten what I'm capable of._

The guards unlocked the cell and the three others drew their swords and moved in.

"You're not going to buy me dinner first?" he asked as they unchained him. "I don't know what Kunzite told me about you, but I don't work like that."

"Shut up," growled one of them. "I don't know why our master cares so much about the answer to that stupid riddle."

"He's not as wise as you give him credit for," said Jason as the shackles were fully off.

"Why do you doubt the wisdom of the great Kunzite?" another of the three asked.

Drawing his remaining strength, Jason quickly swept the feet out from under the one who had not spoken, grabbed his sword and slashed his throat. Engulfing the first in flames, he stabbed the last in the heart. The two guards on the outside had noticed and ran into the cell, but were also engulfed by a wall of flame.

"Because I do," answered Jason, watching the fire dissipate. When it had finally thinned, Jason left the cell block as quickly as he could, trying to ignore the pain in his leg. Reaching one of the main floors, he could hear a siren, but the hall was deserted.

Continuing down the hall, he found a sign, which notified him the hangar bay was closer than he thought. A lone soldier came running down the hall, but Jason eliminated him with a swift fireball and continued on his way.

* * *

"The time has come," Queen Serenity said to her audience of Prince Jason, his sister and brother, Princess Cassandra and Prince James, and the other six princesses. "For us to forge an alliance. Prince Endymion," she said motioning towards the prince at her left side. "Has been usurped. His rebellion is a formidable force, but by themselves are no match for the armies the new Queen Beryl has gathered."

"What is the benefit of an alliance?" asked Neptune, crossing her arms. "Shouldn't the ties we already have be enough?"

"You would think so," said balding man to Endymion's left. "But loose ties are not enough and are broken too easily. A tight alliance ensures that you are all working for each other instead of accidentally against. United you would stand strong, but divided, you would fall one by one."

"Queen Serenity," asked Uranus auspiciously. "Who is this?"

"This is a man who was the first to defect with me," Endymion replied. "His name is Yasmar Giarc. His knowledge of warfare would be a great asset."

"What say you," said Pluto to Queen Serenity's right. "I have been tightly allied with the Moon Kingdom since time began. There have never been any difficulties too strong and has benefited both of us well."

"It would be an honor for the Sun and Asteroids to unite with the Moon Kingdom," said Jason, putting his hands on his sibling's shoulders. "We're in."

"I agree," said Mercury. "I am in."

"As am I," replied Mars."

The princesses off Venus and Jupiter quickly agreed as well, but Neptune and Uranus thought for a few minutes until agreeing in unison.

"Good," affirmed Queen Serenity. "Though there is the matter of military leadership. There should be grand generals at the head. Mr. Giarc, how many do you believe there should be?" she asked turning to Yasmar.

"Probably four," he replied.

"Very well," Endymion said. "Yasmar, you are now a grand general."

"Yes, your majesty," said Yasmar.

"Jason, James, Cassandra," said Serenity, turning to the three. "I have known the three of you for many years. I have seen qualities in the three of you in leading your respected domains that would be well suited for the position. Do you accept?"

"Wholeheartedly," said Jason without thought.

"I do," said Cassandra.

"Can't be showed up by the twins," said Jim, grinning. "I accept as well."

* * *

Having come across no one else, Jason found the door to the hangar bay hallway. He prepared for whatever was behind and opened it.

The hall was deserted except for a lone, white haired figure in the middle.

"I knew you'd find your way here," said Kunzite, glaring at Jason. "The facility believes you're fighting your way up. They're all on three levels up. We're alone."

Jason slowly edged to the rigid Kunzite. "If it ends now," he hissed. "I promise it won't be easy."

"Brash, and determined; the years have changed you almost as much as they have me," said Kunzite, smirking. "You've always been a survivor and I can't change that. I'm not here to fight you."

"Then what?" asked Jason, stopping short in front of his old friend. "Isn't it finally time for Beryl to deal a death blow to Moon Kingdom morale? Why let me go?"

"Letting you go, letting you escape, blatantly offering you the keys to a scout ship. Aren't they all the same thing?" asked Kunzite, amusedly. "The only difference is in how you leave. There's one warming up in the hangar behind me. I only ask two things of you."

"And that is?"

"Take care of her," said Kunzite, walking closer to Jason. "And don't die."

Kunzite passed each Jason, walking away. Jason stood, frozen in place until Hegave a final call to him.

"Hey! Why _is _an asteroid like a wooden door."

Jason turned to look at him. "No clue."

Kunzite gave a hearty laugh and continued walking away. Jason watched him move down the hall and disappear behind the door, feeling like he had just seen a vision of the past.


	7. Envoy to Destiny

"You want me to do what?"

"There is an important medical supply shipment leaving Adrastea," explained Queen Serenity. "It is heading to Sector IV of Quadrant III. The Dark Kingdom is hurting us badly in that area and they need those supplies. I'm sending you to protect them while they make their journey."

"With all due respect Your Highness," replied Tagmar, wearing his old, dark red commander's uniform instead of his stark white grand general uniform. "Jason is still in enemy hands. Shouldn't we make efforts to retrieve him rather than spend our resources protecting a medical shipment?"

"You could try," came a rough voice from behind Tagmar. "But you would never have found me."

Tagmar wheeled around to see the figure of his friend, Jason standing in the throne room doorway, looking tired and drained from lack of sleep. "I guess the stories are true after all."

"Only half of them," said Jason as he limped towards Tagmar and the Queen.

"Where were you?" asked Tagmar.

"I had been taken captive by Kunzite and held in prison on an asteroid, waiting for a heavily armed escort to take me to be personally killed by Beryl herself," Jason replied leaning on the wall closest to the throne. "I suppose now, with my escape, the facility would be evacuated and abandoned."

"Your luck is going to run out sometime, my friend."

"I feel that it's already beginning too," Jason said as he slowly slid down the wall and landed on the floor. "That youma I fought thrashed me quicker than anyone or anything ever has. I was only able to escape because of Kunzite's lingering affections for Venus. Believe it or not, he helped me to escape."

"There's hope for him after all?" asked the queen, who had been patiently listening until now.

"It's doubtful," said Jason, looking up at the queen. "Though I do move that once we win the war and take Earth back, that his death be quick and painless."

"Your consideration has been heard," replied Serenity. "But at the moment, there is the matter of what I was briefing Tagmar on when you came in."

"Of course, please continue."

"I assume that since he's back that you will have no other excuses for this assignment?" asked the queen, turning back to Tagmar.

"None at all," he replied. "I shall leave immediately."

"Good, you are excused."

"Thank you, my queen," he said as he bowed and walked out.

"As for you," she said turning to Jason. "I would love to give you time to rest and recover, but Yuichiro is to be trained as a high general under you, and since he has made a complete recovery, he is ready."

"For once," said Jason as he slowly rose to his feet. "I wish you would have chosen someone else, but no matter. I will get right on it."

"Thank you," said Queen Serenity to herself as Jason limped out of the room.

* * *

As the Earth loomed in space, seemingly ready to pour out all the malice of the Dark Kingdom and battles raged throughout the system, with commanders on both sides sure that their strategies would decide the fate of the war, two good friends were taking a simple stroll through the palace gardens.

"Mercury, do you ever wonder what it would have been like if the war had never begun?"

"Well," said Mercury, unsure of what to say. "I guess the alliance of planets would still just be a loose friendly connection. I'm sure the royal court would still consist of the same people, but I'm not sure any of us would have become as good friends as we are now. You've never asked me about anything like this before, why bring it up now?"

"I was just wondering," she said as the two stopped by the large fountain in the gardens' center. "In a way, I guess it's good that the war started; the twelve of us developing friendships with each other and the growing affection Endymion and I have had in the last five years. But does it really outweigh all the death and destruction caused by the war?"

"I don't suppose it does," responded Mercury, sitting on the fountain. "Maybe, if the war never started, something else would have happened that would have started our friendships, or brought you and Endymion together. Maybe," she said, breaking out with a large grin. "Kunzite and Venus would still be together."

"Oh yes," laughed Serenity. "The relationship that no one could understand."

* * *

"YOU HAD HIM AND YOU LOST HIM!" screamed Beryl, eyes full of rage. "THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE DEFINING MOMENT FOR US! I COULD HAVE KILLED HIM AND PERMANENTLY DESTROYED THE MORALE OF THE MOON KINGDOM! ... Kunzite," she said as she calmed down. "You know I do not appreciate failure, especially from my generals. What have you to say for yourself?"

_If you don't appreciate failure then why do you keep Jedite around?_ "I have nothing to say, My Queen," answered Kunzite after a long silence. "I accept the consequences of my failure."

"Normally, I would blast you to oblivion for a failure this big," said Beryl as she retook her seat. "But I won't. I will give you a second chance. It would seem that my brother, the good Grand General Bendix has been given escort duty of a medical shipment on its way to Area 40. I want you to take Binah, intercept that shipment and kill Bendix. And I want his body."

"Yes, My Queen," said Kunzite, appreciative of his second chance. "For Tagmar, it will be an envoy to destiny."

* * *

"Being trained as a messenger," said Jason facing Yuichiro in the large room the Moon Kingdom guards used for training. "You were most likely taught to recognize when you are being followed, and as such, learned how to shake them off of you. As a High General, you will not only need to know when someone is following you, but when they are stalking you. Firstly, always trust your instincts. If you feel someone is closing in on you, take necessary precautions."

"What if," interjected Yuichiro. "You feel you are being stalked and you take the necessary precautions, but it turns out that it was only in your mind and there was no one after you in the first place."

"It's called being properly paranoid," explained Jason as he moved to rest on a small bench. "You always take the necessary precautions and thus are almost ensured that any sneak attack is quickly depressed. Doing so has saved my life countless times. The best way to be ready and necessarily prepared is to always expect the unexpected."

Jason paused to scratch his leg and Yuichiro braced for anything to come his way. But nothing did. Jason just watched him tighten up and gave him a smirk, at which he loosened up.

"Next lesson," restarted Jason. "Is to never…" But before he could get out the rest of his thought, a volley of fireballs descended from the ceiling and landed in a neat circle around Yuichiro. As they landed, the Princess of Mars dropped from the ceiling and landed two swift blows to Yuichiro's chest and jaw, while kneeing him in the stomach. Weakly, he dropped to the floor like a stone.

"As he said," she said smiling. "Always be prepared and expect the unexpected."

"The first practical lesson is almost always a failure," said Jason as he stood up to help Yuichiro to his feet. "I remember training this one high general four years ago. She very nearly killed him," he said pointing to the princess.

"There is one last thing I want to tell you today," continued Jason, who had sat back down. "As of late, The Dark Kingdom has been unleashing devastating youma, each more powerful than the last. One of them almost killed me in straight combat. How many there are we do not know, but we decided in the beginning of the war that the Moon Kingdom will never give up without a fight."

"Excuse me," came a quiet voice from the entrance to the room.

"Oh, Mercury," said Mars turning around. "You're hardly ever in this area. Why the sudden change in venue?"

"Grand General Bendix has sent for help," she said quickly. "Kunzite and another youma ambushed the convoy he was protecting. The defensive vehicles were immediately crippled and while he has drawn them away from the rest of the shipment to a nearby asteroid, he can't hold both of them off forever.

"Like I said," said Jason to Yuichiro, as he stood back up. "Expect the unexpected. You're not ready though, stay here. Who else has been informed?" he asked, walking toward Mercury.

"Just the Serenities," she replied, following Jason and Mars as they ran out of the training room.

"I'd send for my brother and sister, but I don't know where they are and there's no time. Have Serenity get the wand and dock another crystal, we leave as soon as we can."

* * *

"How does it feel to know the supplies are safely back on their way?" yelled Tagmar staring down the youma and Kunzite. Blood trickling down his bald head, beard singed and uniform ripped and torn in multiple spots, Tagmar stood his ground, sword in hand. "They'll be at their destination by time we're through."

"Cocky to the last," laughed Kunzite. "I remember training you as a soldier on Earth, very talented, very skillful. If you'd have stayed there instead of jumping ship to the Moon Kingdom when the war started, we wouldn't be in this predicament now. You should realize though," he continued raising his hand. "There are some things that I never taught you!" Unflinchingly, Kunzite unleashed a wave of energy towards his foe

"And you should realize," yelled Tagmar as he ducked the deadly energy, and sped towards Kunzite,. "There are things I've learned since I left!" Reaching his old commanding officer, Tagmar swung the flat side of his blade, hitting Kunzite in the knee. Swinging a kick, Tagmar knocked Kunzites other foot out from under him, throwing him on his back.

Towering over Kunzite, Tagmar positioned his sword over Kunzite's chest. "How does it feel to be bested by one of your products?"

"Actually," responded Kunzite, sorrowfully. "I'm rather disappointed in your failure of single mindedness. I'm not the only one here remember?"

Quickly, Tagmar's face went from confidence to confounded to worried. Hearing a slight noise to his left, he glanced in the direction and found sharp needles heading straight at him. Frozen in place, the needles blasted into his face and Tagmar was thrust away from Kunzite. He crashed into the ground only a few feet away.

"Impeccable timing," huffed Kunzite as he regained his feet. "And just in time for the rest of the peanut gallery."

Binah turned to look in the direction Kunzite was facing and saw a small transport heading their way. "What do you want to do now?"

"You meet them," he replied walking over to Tagmar, "and kill them."

"Of course," said Binah, walking towards the descending transport.

"You've been a lot of trouble," said Kunzite as he strode over to Tagmar, struggling to get to his knees. "You know, this could all have been avoided," he added, rolling his adversary over with his foot and pinning him on the chest. "You could have risen to be one of our best men, maybe even replacing Augite instead of that incompetent fool Jedite. But no matter," he said as he bent over to pick up Tagmar. "I was assigned to two objectives and I failed one. The other, however, will give me much pleasure."

Weakly, Tagmar pulled out his last throwing knife.

"Can't have that," Kunzite said forcing it out of his hand. He let go of him, pushed him back and threw the knife into Tagmar's chest. "You just don't learn do you?" asked Kunzite as Tagmar growled in pain and fell back down.

* * *

Jason ran out of the transport towards Tagmar, as fast as his injured leg could, but was swiftly blocked by Binah. "You'll have to go through me before you get to him," she said quickly.

"Very well," yelled Jason as he ran towards the monster. "Have at you!"

Calmly, Binah took one of her feathers, drew hundreds of needles and shot them towards Jason.

Jason hit the ground, dodging the needles and looked back to check for other hits. Fortunately, the three princesses rolled out of the way and the needles bounced off the transport.

Noticing the other three with Jason, Binah took another feather and drew a copy of herself, which sped to meet them. _Is it just me or are they getting smarter?_ Jason thought watching the process.

"You'll need more than needles to beat me," said Jason, holding up his sword in one hand and a fireball in the other. "And those girls behind me are no slouches either."

"Good," replied the monster. "They'll give my copy a good fight before it kills them. And I'm sure you will too."

* * *

"If you want to live," said Kunzite towering over a crumpled Tagmar. "You could renounce your allegiance to the Moon Kingdom and join your sister. I'm sure she would let you live if you switch sides."

"It would… be no life… worth living…" wheezed Tagmar. "If it entailed… betrayal...to the righteous cause. My sister… will ultimately fail… and die… It may not be… during the lifetime… of the current court… but in time… she will fall…"

Kunzite growled in rage and picked up Tagmar by his head and let him dangle. "Some pretty bold words for a man in your position." He took the knife out of Tagmar's chest slowly and held it against his throat. "Your last chance."

_This is getting nowhere_, thought Jason as he stepped back from the youma, who had drawn herself a sword and shield. _Unless I try something else. _

Jason changed his sword hand and lit another fireball. Lingering for a moment, he then threw it in Binah's face. As she lifted the shield to block the flame, Jason noticed an opening and swung his sword. Hacking off Binah's hand, the shield crashed to the ground. Hearing another thud, he looked around to the copy and found its hand cut off too. _Wait…_ "Girls, whatever happens to the original happens to the copy! Mars, Serenity, get over here!"

As Mercury distracted the clone, Serenity and Mars hurried over to Jason, dodging more needles from the original. "We have one shot at this," he said tensely as they reached him. "Follow my lead, Mars." He dropped his sword and lit both hands. Sending a stream of fire towards Binah, he looked at Mars who did the same. Focusing all his energy on the stream of fire, he looked at the other princess. "Serenity, now!"

Serenity held up the wand and aimed it at the youma. "Crystal imprisonment!" As Binah was pulled into the crystal shard, Jason and Mars stopped their streams. Mars dropped to a knee, but Jason started towards Kunzite and Tagmar and halted almost as soon as he begun. Looking behind them to see why Jason didn't continue, Serenity and Mars looked over their shoulder and saw Kunzite holding a bloody knife and lifeless body. Looking back up at Jason, Serenity saw a rage in his eyes that she had only seen once.

* * *

"Your last chance," said Kunzite holding the knife to Tagmar's throat. "Do you still hold to your foolish sentiments?"

"Not… foolish…" breathed Tagmar. "Simply… honor. Something you… know nothing of…"

"Fine then," said Kunzite cooly. He took the knife and quickly slit Tagmar's throat. "See you in Hell," he said as the rest of the man's blood spilled.

Looking up, Kunzite saw Binah was gone and Jason frozen in place, staring at him. "He put up a hell of a fight," he yelled. "But it wasn't enough. The shipment he was protecting? They've already met their demise. Face it, Jason, the Moon Kingdom has already lost!"

Before Jason could run to Kunzite, he had vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving only Jason and the three princesses behind in a fog of silence.

"Jason, said Serenity, breaking the silence. "What do we do?"

"Serenity," replied Jason, quietly. "Get into the ship and send a message to your mother. Tell her to gather the high generals. There's going to be insanity later."


	8. Honor Amongst Thieves

Slowly, Queen Serenity stiffly and silently strode down the grand entrance corridor of the palace. Behind her was her daughter, the princess, flanked by the Grand Generals Jason, James and Cassandra and the princesses, minus Pluto and Saturn. All of them were holding torches save for Jim, who was mournfully blowing a trumpet.

In time, the procession exited the palace and onto the grounds. Soon they reached a marble pyre, laden with kindling and wood. Before it were available soldiers and officers, various servants and messengers, Endymion and his personal guard.

Serenity's group filed behind the pyre, but Jason stood in front of it and Jim ended his trumpet's music.

"Most say there's no honor amongst thieves. They hadn't met Tagmar Bendix. Once an orphaned beggar on the streets of earth, he often stole so he and his sister could have food. As he grew, he would think of his sister more than he did himself, often sacrificing his own well-being for hers. As an adult, he joined the army and while he was a lieutenant, rumors of an overthrow of Endymion began to surface. With these rumors, he decided that if the coup was true and successful, that he would defect. As the events played out, he stayed true to his word. He came over to the Moon and quickly rose in the ranks. When Grand General Yasmar Giarc was killed, he was the high general chosen to replace him. For two years, Tagmar served as a Grand General until yesterday. He fought valiantly against the Dark General Kunzite and a high powered youma, but was outmatched and cut down."

"We don't have his body," Jason continued, raising and lighting his hand. "But we will light this pyre in his honor."

* * *

"My Queen, here is the body of the Grand General Tagmar Bendix," said Kunzite, placing Tagmar's lifeless corpse before Queen Beryl's throne.

"Thank you," said Beryl, unmoving. "You have done well. Pity Binah was taken. Now, if you would please give me a moment alone with my brother."

"Yes, my Queen," said Kunzite, giving a bow before walking out of the room.

Once the room was emptied, Beryl stood and walked over to Tagmar's body.

"It didn't have to end this way Tag," said Beryl, bending down to look into Tagmar's dead eye. "I didn't want it to anyway. I remember when we were kids on the streets," she said, giving a small laugh. "You were always making sure I was doing ok. Then you joined the army," she sighed. "I never understood why. But I didn't understand a lot of things back then."

Beryl stood and turned back toward the throne.

"You weren't too approving of my desire to become an apprentice to that old sorcerer in the north though. The power would corrupt me, you said. It would give me delusions of grandeur. Well you were wrong!" she yelled, turning back towards Tagmar. "It awakened me! It gave me the ability to see that Endymion was being duped by that brat on the moon! If I couldn't have him, then his kingdom would be mine, the universe would be mine! Endymion and all those charlatans would fall by my hand! It ended this way because you of you!" she screamed, pointing at Tagmar. "You chose to fight with the wrong side! Your pitiful ethics of virtuosity were your downfall!" She lowered her arm and bent back down. "You died because you were a fool."

As Beryl stood, she called for her generals. One by one, the four filed into the throne room. "Kunzite, Zoicite, dispose of the body, I don't care how as long as it's respectable. Jedite, Nephlyte, it's time the end begins. Send out Rikoukeidar. Tell her that anything on Venus is up for grabs."

* * *

Jason paced between a line of seven high generals and a line made up of his brother, sister, the princesses and Queen Serenity. "The unfortunate death of Grand General Tagmar Bendix has opened a hole that needs to be filled. Most of you have been through this once before. However, some of you haven't," he said glancing at Yuichiro. "The process is simple. The twelve of us will vote and whoever has eight votes will be promoted." Jason walked over to the tallest of the princesses. "Also bear in mind that Pluto is here physically. Please remember how serious this time is. Now," he said motioning to the door. "Please wait outside for our decision."

The candidates filed out of the throne room, with the last shutting the door.

"Well," said Mars dryly. "Now the fun begins."

* * *

Beryl quietly walked along an outside corridor of the palace when a glimmer of light from the west peaked above walls. She shielded her eyes for a moment before lowering her arm. "You think you're better than me, don't you," she sneered. "Well you're not."

"Are you busy, my queen?" came a voice.

"Not if you have something that cannot wait, Zoicite," said Beryl without turning.

"Rikoukeidar has reached Venus."

"Thank you for the update. Now leave,"

"Yes, my queen," said Zoicite, walking away.

"When I get my hands on you, you will suffer more than anyone."

* * *

Three hours had passed since the voting had begun and a three fourths majority was nowhere to be found.

"I can't believe how long this has taken," said Queen Serenity collecting the eighth batch of ballots. "Let's hope we finally reach a consensus on this one."

The queen finished collecting and reviewed the ballots, grouping the votes by name, then counting the largest group.

"We have finally reached a consensus," she said after a moment of silence. "Grand General Prince Jason, would you please let the high generals in?"

"With every ounce of pleasure I can muster," said Jason walking towards the doors. He opened them slowly and waved the candidates in. They shuffled in behind Jason.

"All apologies for the long wait," began the queen. "Especially if you remember how the voting for the late Grand General Tagmar took twenty minutes and only one round of voting. We have chosen Carth Betrex as the next grand general."

Betrex stepped forward and shook Jason's hand. "You've been one my best subordinates," said Jason quietly. "I look forward to being your equal."

"Thank you," replied Betrex.

Without warning, a messenger sprinted into the throne room.

"Message… from Venus," he heaved before collapsing.

"That's odd," said High General Marlon Vez as Jason picked up the note.

"You get used to it," said Cassandra helping the fallen messenger to his feet.

"We need to get to Venus," said Jason with rapid tension. "Now."

"All of us?" asked Mercury.

"Well, the rest of the high generals need to get back to their posts," said Jason, moving towards the door. "Unless anyone else has pressing engagements, get to Transport Alpha. Serenity, grab the wand first. Beryl launched an all out offensive on Venus with one youma so it's another imprisonment mission," he said breaking into a run. "I'll send word to Endymion to meet us there."

"What are you all standing around for?" asked the queen as he disappeared. "You heard him. Move!"


End file.
